Sucker Punch
by darkchakram
Summary: Following Dirty Half Dozen, Ares tries to enlist Xena's help against a new threat.


Title: **Sucker Punch**

Category: TV Shows » Xena: Warrior Princess

Author: darkchakram

Language: English, Rating: Rated: M

Genre: Angst/Romance

Published: 10-02-11, Updated: 10-02-11

Chapters: 1, Words: 2,432

One-shot

Title: Sucker Punch

Rating:M

Author: darkchakram

Disclaimer: Not mine, if they were they would still be on TV and Xena would not be headless

Post-Ep: Dirty Half Dozen

Spoilers: The Furies, Dirty Half Dozen, The Deliverer, slight nod to Motherhood

Summary: Takes place between Dirty Half Dozen and the Deliverer. I am suggesting that Ares trusted Agathon with the metal of Hephaestus because he was looking for a warrior to take on Dahak. Ares attempts to convince Xena to join him for a one-time only job. Will she help? Can they trust each other?

Note: I come from the school of thought that says Ares and Xena were intimate in her "bad" days. I thought their conversation in Dirty Half Dozen really spoke to them knowing each other before the Reckoning and I interpret Xena's line, "I used to wonder what you look like," as a reference to him hiding his appearance from her at an earlier time in their relationship. I don't think the Reckoning was the first reveal. Too many other episodes hint to an earlier relationship. If that is not for you, then this fic may not be for you. Also though I see this as a Xena/Ares fic there is a different sexual pairing involved but the fic is about Xena and Ares and not the third party. This is definitely ANGST.

Xena walked along the worn path listening to Gabrielle who was working on a new story about the Amazons. In an effort to relax, Xena also took in the peaceful sound of the wind rustling through the overhead canopy of leaves. She was trying, rather unsuccessfully, to get a certain god out of her head. She was still fuming at him for having the Furies drive her mad and if that wasn't enough he had and entrusted that bonehead Agathon with Hephaestian metal. The last act made Xena wonder briefly if the Furies had been playing with Ares' mind. Perhaps they were punishing him for attempting to misuse their unique and twisted system of justice.

Agathon did not have anywhere near the amount of self-control that such a power warranted. When she and Ares had had their little chit-chat in the woods the previous evening, Ares had compared Agathon to her younger self. Now, she wondered if she had really ever been that obnoxious and out of control. Is that really how she had presented herself to the God of War? Yes, she supposed it was. She was mortified for a brief moment before she mentally chastised herself. She did not need his approval anymore! So, why did she still care what he thought? Her gut fluttered. She tightened her jaw and jerked her head to try to fight the feeling off.

Gabrielle noticed the clenched jaw and the near imperceptible jerk of the head. She wondered if danger was near. Xena had an uncanny way of picking up on sounds, movements, and flashes of light that Gabrielle hoped to train herself to detect. It was one of the things that made Xena so fascinating. She looked around but did not see or sense anything.

"Everything, okay, Xena?"

"Hmm?" Xena's mind, despite trying to shake off thoughts of him, had drifted to a critique of Ares' personal appearance. She wanted to laugh at his new sideburns which ran in a thin sinister looking trail down the side of his face to connect with his mustache but she found the effect they were having on her troubling.

"You seem on edge, I was just wondering if you heard something or if we are in danger?"

"No, Gabrielle, I was just thinking about how dangerous Ares is becoming."

"Hasn't he always been dangerous?" The bard quipped.

"Of course, but that business with Agathon, not only did he run the risk of angering the

Olympians but trusting someone that rash and uncontrolled, and driven by emotion instead of reason was an unusually dangerous move on his part."

"Were you any different?" Gabrielle asked.

The comment cut Xena, not so much because it was an accusation she didn't care to hear from her best friend, but because it echoed Ares' assessment from the night before.

"I'd like to think I was a little more rational and controlled but maybe I wasn't. Let's talk about something else. You wanna play one of your games?"

Gabrielle could tell that she would get no more conversation out of Xena regarding her past so offered to start, "Okay, I've got one…it's a warlord."

Xena asked the first question, "Is he dead?"

The duo continued their journey northwest, the sun moved behind the clouds and the wind picked up.

As dusk approached, Xena could taste the sea air. They were near the Ionian sea, tomorrow they would board a boat for Corcyra. Xena had received word that her brother, Toris, had settled on the island just west of mainland Greece and she wanted to pay him a visit. Xena and Gabrielle made camp a few hundred yards off the cart path so as not to attract any unwanted attention. Gabrielle had worked up a good fire and was spitting a rabbit that Xena had killed and skinned. Xena reached in her saddle bag and pulled out a hunk of bread to accompany their meat. As she tore the bread into two roughly equal pieces she felt his presence. Gabrielle was blissfully unaware of the intrusion. He came closer and stood behind her. She could feel his presence on the nape of her neck almost like a kiss. It frustrated her sexually and she had to shake off the urge to whip around and lash out in anger. He would not show himself unless she called and she was not going to give him the satisfaction.

"Xena could you toss me the wine skin? I want to pour some on the meat for a little flavor."

Thankful for the diversion, Xena walked over to where Argo was tied, grabbed the wineskin and tossed it to Gabrielle. She didn't dare look in the direction where she knew he was lurking. She had wanted to take a quick dip before eating dinner but she knew that if she headed down to the river now that he would see that as an invitation. She sighed and found a rock near Gabrielle to sit on, took the marinated rabbit from her friend and concentrated on roasting the meat.

Ares wanted to chuckle at Xena's obvious frustration. He had felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up when he stood against her. He also had smelled the faint hint of her arousal. Deny it as she might, he never doubted her physical attraction to him. But as much as he wanted to delight in her sexual misery he had a very serious matter to talk to her about, he should have just come out and asked for her help but she made things so difficult that sometimes it was easier to manipulate her into doing things for him. In the old days he could have confided in her, now he found it difficult to trust her. She was always messing up his plans. He had hoped that by frustrating her a little bit she would have trotted off into the woods to give him a piece of her mind. He knew she would not call out to him in front of "Blondie." But instead of getting the private audience he desired, it looked as if she were getting comfortable on her rock. He was still perplexed how mortals even found rocks to be comfortable. He knew he'd never make it a day as a mortal, the mere thought of it made him shudder.

As the female companions ate dinner, Gabrielle told Xena a story about one Solstice in Potidea. Xena tried to pay attention but she was curious about what Ares had been up to. After dinner she offered to rinse the plates. She authentically wanted to help Gabrielle, but figured this would give him the audience he wanted as well.

She expected him to show himself as soon as she got clear of camp but she had to give him points for patience this time. He waited until she had finished rinsing and drying the tin plates.

"How very domestic of you Xena," he teased.

"What do you want, Ares?" She drew out his name in her usual manner.

"I have a proposition for you. A one-time only job. In and out, no strings attached. When the job is done you owe me nothing."

"Ares, I'm not interested."

"Xena, you haven't even heard what I have to say."

"I don't need to, I am not about to be a part of your world domination tour. I left that a long time ago."

"This isn't about that Xena. You would actually be making the world safer."

"Like I'd believe anything you have to say, Ares. I almost killed my mother thanks to you and that business with Agathon…"

He cut her off, "That business with Agathon was part of this but I realized he was the wrong man for the job. Do you think I would mess with Hephaestian metal much less trust it to a mortal without a damn good reason?"

"I try not to think about your reasons anymore, and you trusted me with Hephaestian metal," she spat as she gestured to her hip where her chakram rested.

"You're hardly mortal, Xena," Ares said as he moved in closer.

"I bleed Ares and am very much mortal."

"Mortal in the strictest sense perhaps but you were made to be a goddess, look at you," he said as he traced his finger along her jawbone.

Her weakness for him reminded her just how mortal she was. She parted her lips instinctively and her tongue glided against her bottom lip. She quickly withdrew it and clamped down her teeth in protest to her emotions.

He took the tin plates from her and tossed them aside. He pulled her roughly into him. He crushed his lips to hers. He pried open her mouth with his god-tongue, demanding entrance. She responded and felt her body undulating under his touch. She was losing it. She had to regain control. It had been a very long time since they had coupled and she remembered just how feverish their passion could be. No mortal had ever satisfied her in the ways he had. She had loved him, still did, but he was bad for and she had to stop this now. He pushed his groin into her, she planted her feet, grabbed his sides and twisting she launched his body into the river.

"Take a cold shower, Ares." She grabbed the plates and headed back to camp even though her arousal still demanded satisfaction.

Ares was furious as he materialized in his nearest temple. He was upset because he needed Xena if he was going to defeat Dahak. It had to be a mortal. Gods killing gods looked ugly but if Xena were to do it then everything would work out. He would not be encroaching on another god's turf. If Xena wasn't willing to work with him and now that she had defeated Agathon, he would be forced to work with that arrogant Roman, Caesar. But just as upset as he was about the situation with Dahak, he was equally upset that Xena kept denying them the pleasure that they both deserved. Zeus! She had wanted it. She was so hot and he could feel the longing. He knew that he loved her but not in any way he wanted to deal with. Passion he could understand, love was new territory. He wanted to chalk it all up to lust and so he did.

He called out to Discord, the diminutive goddess appeared. She could tell instantly that this was a booty call. She didn't mind. Ares was a skillful lover and she could tell from the glint in his eye that this romp would be especially violent because he was full of anger. She didn't even have time to disrobe. He grabbed her forcefully and bent her over his alter. He didn't want to see her face, it was not her he was fucking. In his mind, he was putting it to a certain warrior princess.

Halfway back to camp, Xena veered off to the East. She knew there was a temple dedicated to Ares not far away, her campaigns had paid for it. She knew she would regret it later but the harder she ran the more she could feel his lips on her. Images from the old days played in her head; passionate images that demanded satisfaction. No mortal was a match for her sexually, her arousal demanded a god and not just any god. She kept repeating, "just one night, won't mean anything, just sex." The temple came in view. She could see candles were still lit. She planned to barge in, call him and have glorious, hurried, meaningless sex. Yet, there was a part of her that knew that it was not just sex she wanted. She wanted him to feel as vulnerable over her as she felt over him. She wanted not just his cock but also his heart. But she refused to think about it. Sex, this was just sex it had nothing to do with the feel of his arms the taste of his breath.

She bounded into the temple and nearly vomited from the sucker punch to the gut. There on the altar that she had built he was fucking Discord. Her hair was wrapped around his clenched fist as he pulled her head mercilessly. He cried, "Xena!" as he emptied himself inside the dark goddess. As soon as he came he felt her presence. He turned to face her. She stood still, stunned and in pain. Ultimately, she felt like a fool because she had entertained thoughts of romance, maybe even love. She laughed at herself as a tear escaped her left eye. He approached her. She held up her hand to stop him and turned and walked away. He hung his head, he couldn't bear to watch her go but didn't dare ask her to stay.

He knew it would be next to impossible to gain her trust which he would need if he were to rid the world of Dahak.


End file.
